NFL Pondering Draft Move

The NFL likes a big stage and for the last 30 years or so the draft has played out in New York City.  This year the NFL was forced to move the draft back two weeks after Radio City Music Hall booked another event for the normal draft weekend.  That event was later cancelled but the NFL was stuck with May.  Now, following record ratings, the powers that be in the NFL are looking at moving the draft yet again.

According to multiple reports the NFL is interested in moving the draft to the end of May.  While nothing is concrete the NFL is thinking out loud about their options.  This despite that many teams did not like the move to May, fans didn’t care for the move, and the NFLPA who will represent the incoming players didn’t like it.  To say nothing about the players and their agents.

Popular opinion has never really been enough to sway the NFL.

In addition, the owners who are meeting now will also be discussing the draft being held in another city outside of New York.  A committee has been formed to look at options with location as well as date and time.  Roger Goodell hinted at the possibility of a four day draft which has been groaned about by just about everyone.  The location however is interesting as it could float from NFL to NFL city allowing each city to host the draft once in 32 years.  The NFL is considering splitting locations for days one and two with day three which would be held at a different location.

I like the idea of moving the draft from city to city but I wouldn’t mind seeing cities with teams being left out of the hosting.  Indianapolis who hosts the NFL Combine should be eliminated from that as well as should Akron/Canton who hosts the Hall of Fame enshrinement.  The reason is there are fans all across the United States and fans are often displaced from their teams of choice.  Imagine if instead of Detroit, Chicago, or Foxboro hosting an NFL Draft we got to see one held in Orlando or Raleigh, or Memphis.

The point is that location of the Draft won’t have a huge impact negative or positive on the number of people that watch it live or on TV but spreading some of the NFL wealth to cities without franchises would go a long way to show support to those fans who can’t get to games or big events live.  The NFL has a chance to bring part of their popularity to the people and whether they decide to go NFL franchise only cities or larger cities with no franchises doesn’t matter.  It’s a good idea to move it around and let others experience what has become a yearly phenomenon.